The Crazy Healthcare Protests Have Worked

We'd like
to know what Alexis de Tocqueville would've said about the
healthcare protests, and the ability to sway public opinion by
showing up at a townhall and shouting down the speaker.

Apparently it's an effective tactic.

USA Today: The raucous protests at congressional
town-hall-style meetings have succeeded in fueling opposition to
proposed health care bills among some Americans, a USA
TODAY/Gallup Poll finds — particularly among the independents who
tend to be at the center of political debate

In a survey of 1,000 adults taken Tuesday, 34% say demonstrations
at the hometown sessions have made them more sympathetic to the
protesters' views; 21% say they are less sympathetic.

Independents by 2-to-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to
the protesters now.

Here's the thing. It's all about a handful of Democrats who are
on the fence with this stuff. Either they want to pass a bill
they believe in or they don't. If otherwise pro-reform Democrats
are swayed because of a few polls or some raucus town halls,
they're not really leaders.